Chamber wants donor community to re-direct funding

[www.stabroeknews.com] – The Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) wants the international donor community to provide material and technical support for creation of a small business help desk within the Chamber to help provide various critical services to the small business community.

“I think a point has now been reached where the Chamber has a greater capacity to support the small business

Clinton Urling

sector and frankly we can use some of the funding which is available through the various donor agencies,” President of the GCCI Clinton Urling said.

Speaking with Stabroek Business shortly after the conclusion of a press conference to launch the GCCI’s third Attitudinal Survey, Urling said there was something to be said for redirecting funding from the donor community intended for small business development away from state institutions and regional organisations and directly to local business support organisations. “This is something which I have raised with some representatives of the donor community,” Urling told Stabroek Business.

The Georgetown businessman, whose second and final term as Chamber President concludes at month-end said that funding for small business development available through institutions like the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the World Bank, the European Union and the country’s major bilateral partners could probably be used more effectively if it were to be channelled directly through BSO’s like the GCCI rather than through state agencies and other organisations. “It really is a matter of institutions like the Chamber having its finger on the pulse as far as the needs of the small business sector are concerned. We believe too that we can use those funds to execute projects without the sorts of protracted procedures and red tape that is often associated with state agencies and other organisations.